Rivermen beat Wolves 3-2 for 2nd straight night

After 5-game trip, Wolves can't get act together at home

November 17, 2012|By Paul LaTour, Special to the Tribune

(Tribune illustration)

A return home from their annual circus trip was not the tonic the Wolves hoped it would be.

Sergey Andronov scored midway through the final period Saturday night to lift the Peoria Rivermen to a 3-2 victory over the Wolves before a crowd of 8,920 at Allstate Arena. The Wolves, who played their first home game since Oct. 28, lost for the third consecutive time and for the fourth time in their last five games.

They also suffered a 3-2 overtime loss to the Rivermen on Friday in overtime in Peoria.

"It's little bit of a letdown for us, especially after losing (Friday) night in their building and coming home," said Darren Haydar, who had two assists. "We're playing well. We had a lot of chances. We just have to bear down when we do get our chances."

Steve Pinizzotto gave the Wolves an early 1-0 lead with this fourth goal in four games. But the Rivermen responded with first-period goals from Sebastian Wannstrom and T.J. Hensick.

Andrew Gordon, fresh from the penalty box, capped a two-on-one break with Haydar with a one-timer to tie the game 2-2 at 3 minutes, 20 seconds of the second.

Late in that period it appeared the Wolves scored a power-play goal, but a video replay upheld the initial no-goal call. For a team that hasn't scored more than two goals in five of their past seven games, it proved to be an important moment.

"We've got people who are squeezing their sticks to score goals," coach Scott Arniel said. "We need more than just three or four guys scoring. We need goals by committee."